That Night
by Gary Ben
Summary: [SxR] Soubi fought alone again, but he now has enough trust to go to Ritsuka instead of anyone else. R&R please.


**Title :** That Night  
**Pairing :** SoubixRitsuka  
**Rating :** T  
**Disclaimer :** I do not own Loveless, for some unfortunate reasons.  
**Genre :** Light Angst/ Romance/ Humor  
**Status : **Complete  
**Word Count : **1,558

**A/N : **R&R please. I know you do love the pair. And I do too. :D The story is unbeta-ed, so I apologize if ever you do find some errors.

**---**

"_Ne, Sou-chan, would it really be alright?" Kio traced the blonde's chest, feeling every detail of his skin on his very own fingertips. True, he wanted to do it, but he feared the pain that he might inflict on the man._

_On the other side, Soubi placed his hand on his best friend's head. "It is and it shall be alright." He smiled at him, causing the other one's doubts to just disintegrate into thin air. It was always like this, just a smile –and he'd be able to do whatever it was that Agatsuma Soubi wanted._

_He sighed and beamed his famous grin. "I see. Okay then, Sou-chan! Here I come!"_

_And they began._

The moon shone brightly that night, deluging the room of a particular raven-haired boy with its silvery white light. And like a puzzle piece that fitted perfectly to another one, the orchestra of stars didn't fail to enhance the already stunning beauty of the colossal ball of silver dust floating on heaven's black ocean. It was nature's masterpiece, but it was constantly overlooked.

The blinking cursor in front of Ritsuka was slowly sending him into stupor. Everything was so silent, aside from his mom whom he has gotten used to over time.

_Blink._

_Blink._

He was about to shut his eyes and fall straight into reverie when a knock on his window cut the never-ending thread of silence. This caused his cat ears to twitch reflexively. His eyes shot up, instantly realizing who it was. Diverting his gaze to the window, he rubbed his eyes and proceeded to open the so-called door of his fighter.

What greeted him slapped exhaustion out of his mind. There was his fighter staring at him, covered with blood. Greetings set aside, Soubi collapsed on the floor. Shock took over Ritsuka which left him frozen on the spot for five seconds.

"Ritsuka…" Soubi gasped for the much-needed air.

The voice seemed to mesmerize the boy back into reality. He knelt down and held the blonde man's badly beaten up body, showing his beautiful face –scarred but still as exquisite. It was pretty obvious that the man couldn't stand up straight now, considering the way he collapsed and his injuries all over, so the other one decided to just drag him inside.

"Don't you ever plan to call me before getting into a fight?" He sat behind him and encircled his arms around the injured man's waist. "Am I that weak for a sacrifice?" He started to drag him bit by bit to his room until he reached his bed side. He pretty much observed that Soubi would always sit there whenever he came over. After positioning the man so that he would be able to lean on his bed, he went towards the door and switched the light on, giving him a full view of what really happened.

The wound on his left eyelid was bleeding profusely, causing him to have blood covering half of his face. He glanced at his hands and saw that both had cuts on them, but they weren't that deep, judging from the amount of blood that was trickling from them slowly. The cuts continued on to his arms, which dyed his ripped white trench coat red.

But what stunned him was the injury on the man's chest, which looks like the major cause why he was having a hard time breathing. It appeared to be a long one, since it stretched from his right shoulder to his left hip, resulting to a torn shirt.

The boy stooped down and stared at him eye to eye.

"I'm going to the bathroom to get the first-aid kit. Better prepare a good explanation while I'm at it!" He gave one final look to the chest wound –which was just draining all hell inside the kid. After a moment of sympathizing, he exhaled and told him, "I'm sorry for being a useless sacrifice, Soubi."

Soubi's right eye just stared at him. He couldn't open his left eye due to his bleeding eyelid. The truth was, the man wanted to protest, correct Ritsuka, but he just smiled in return.

The sixth grader just sighed and proceeded to get the kit.

He had always wanted to curse Soubi a million times whenever this happens, but in the end, he just ends up cursing himself for being a useless sacrifice. A weak one who couldn't even be compared to a strong sacrifice… to his brother, Seimei.

"Could I… ever be as strong as you, Seimei?" He extended his left hand and stroked his reflection on the mirror.

Sure, the little brother felt a greater sense of trust from Soubi now, considering that he'd go to him every time after he fought. Not to Kio and neither to Natsuo and Youji, but he never understood why the blonde just couldn't call him **before** he goes into a spell battle.

"What, am I his nurse or something?" He gave a curt laugh.

He opened the medical kit and checked if it lacked contents, and seeing that there wasn't a thing missing, he closed it and fixed the clutter made by the left bottles on the counter.

Switching off the bathroom lights, he went out to tend Soubi's wounds.

They conversed through silence as the sacrifice gently treated his fighter's injuries. He unhurriedly dabbed the cotton to remove the blood that hid his eyelid and half of the long-haired man's face. After applying some medication and covering it with cotton to avoid blood from showering his face again, he proceeded to treat the longest wound. He actually planned to do it first earlier, but the other one insisted that he do it last.

He slowly took off the shirt with ease, since it wasn't really far to being ripped in half.

The cotton cleaned the blood-covered skin, starting from his right shoulder down to the left hip. Only half of the cotton in the pack was left after half an hour of cleaning everything.

"Eh?!" Ritsuka gave a confused look to Soubi.

But being as mischievous as usual, he gave Ritsuka a nagging smile.

"Where's the wound? I've wiped off all the blood, but I couldn't even see the cut that ripped your shirt!" He placed his hand on the man's chest and searched for the wound, but to no avail. He did see something though.

Soubi realized what just happened but continued to smile at him. "Do you like it?" He saw the boy's cheeks turn a light shade of pink.

"This is…" He didn't realize it, but he was actually touching the blonde's chest, and he was feeling his heartbeat.

The smile still unfaltering, "A tattoo."

The raven-haired boy finally realized what exactly was happening. He stared at the tattoo which had Ritsuka's name in Japanese kanji. And it was tattooed on his heart.

"I wanted to show you right away. I just got this awhile ago from Kio." He made a quick grab of Ritsuka and hugged him, getting a whiff of the kid's favorite blueberry shampoo. That scent. He'll never get tired of it.

The boy pulled off and tried to stare at him. "You mean it was all an act just to show me that tattoo of yours?" He looked away to release the uneasiness building up inside him. "You've got to be kidding."

The 'injured' man gazed at him. _He never fails to amuse him. _"Were you worried?" He reached out and held the face of the blushing boy.

"No. N-not at all." He tried to avoid eye contact as much as possible.

"Eh? Why? I thought you were." He grinned and leaned closer to him. "You don't need to deny it. Besides, I saw everything. Every glint of worry in those beautiful eyes." He whispered rather seductively, earning a short glare from the boy.

This time, the boy was ready for eye contact. At least, that was what he thought. He tried to, but he only ended up in staring at the tattoo dedicated for him. "You should quit being a fighter."

Now, he wasn't ready for that statement. Soubi was expecting something like, "shut up." or "go home." Nonetheless, he just continued gazing upon him. He could never get enough of his blushing face.

"Quit being a fighter? Why did you say so?" He gave him a questioning look.

He sighed and finally admitted, "You're better off being an actor."

"Then, would you be my love interest?" He suddenly grabbed the unprepared boy and sealed his question with a kiss on the unsuspecting person's lips.

Blushing, he gave him a fierce look, but it wasn't scary. On the contrary, this just made Ritsuka cuter in the eyes of Soubi. Oh, but the boy would never know.

"Just shut up and go home."

"_Ne, Sou-chan." Kio looked at him for a split second and continued his question after receiving the assurance that Soubi was indeed listening. "Why did you decide to get a tattoo after all?"_

_"Hmn?" He glanced at the man asking him. "Nothing. I just wanted to have one, that's all."_

_"Sou-chan, you really are a pervert." He continued to do his best friend's tattoo._

_"Kio –" His popular response was cut off._

_The tattoo artist raised his tattooing gadget for an added effect. "—I'm not a pervert. Ah, ah, you never change."_

**---**


End file.
